Brad Pitt is bracing for another painful family blow.
Knox Jolie-Pitt, 18, has not yet filed legal paperwork to remove his father’s surname, but the move is considered inevitable by those close to the situation. “Knox hasn’t filed anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time before he drops Pitt from his last name,” a source exclusively said. “It’s inevitable. It’s just a question of when, and there’s no timeline for that right now. The whole situation is heartbreaking for Brad.”
If Knox proceeds, he would become the fifth of the former couple’s six children to legally shed the Pitt name. The teenager has already signaled his intentions informally: he used “Knox Jolie” on his high school diploma after graduating from Fusion Academy in Los Angeles in June. He celebrated the milestone alongside his mother, Angelina Jolie, 51; his twin sister Vivienne; older brother Pax, 22; and older sister Zahara, 21.
That graduation ceremony foreshadowed what now appears to be Knox’s forthcoming legal step. It also came amid mounting evidence that Jolie’s children have been systematically reclaiming their maternal identity.
Vivienne, Knox’s twin, made her own break official just this week. A Los Angeles judge granted her petition Monday to change her name from Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie. She had filed on July 20, barely a week after turning 18. In her court documents, she cited “personal” reasons for the removal. She had already been using “Vivienne Jolie” publicly for more than two years, including in the May 2024 Playbill for Broadway’s “The Outsiders,” which she helped her mother produce.
Zahara, 21, preceded her younger sister in making the change formal. A judge granted her petition in September, and she had already stopped using her father’s last name publicly. At her Spelman College graduation in May, she was introduced as Zahara Marley Jolie. She made the same introduction during her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority induction in November 2023.
Maddox, 25, the eldest sibling, also completed his legal name change in September, becoming Maddox Chivan Jolie. He filed in May, likewise listing “personal” reasons, and had already been credited as “Maddox Jolie” for his assistant director work on his mother’s film “Couture” when it released in France that February.
Shiloh, 20, was actually the first to move through the courts, filing on her 18th birthday in May 2024 and receiving approval that August. Only Pax, 22, has not sought a legal name change, though his relationship with his father remains strained. “Pax still has a relationship with his dad’s side of the family and continues to spend time with them,” a source exclusively said in June, noting he recently attended his cousin Sydney’s engagement celebration alongside Brad’s sister Julie Pitt Neal and niece Reagan Pitt. “He recently joined his family as they went out to dinner and celebrated his cousin Sydney’s engagement to Archimede Jerome.” Yet a second source added that despite these paternal family ties, Pax “doesn’t have much of a relationship with Brad.”
The name changes have unfolded against a backdrop of bitter accusations from both camps. One source close to Pitt framed the pattern as deliberate alienation by Jolie. “It’s so sad for the entire family that she would use the same weapon of the name change over and over for any other purpose other than to hurt their father,” the insider said. “This was her goal and she succeeded.” The same source claimed Jolie “seems quite pleased with herself about the total success of her long-standing, intense, deliberate effort to alienate her children from their father.”
A separate source offered a starkly different account of the family fracture, insisting that Jolie “participated in years of family therapy with Brad and the children for everyone to try to heal after the events that led her to file for divorce.” The insider continued: “If [Brad] isn’t close to the kids, it’s because of the harm that was done. He wasn’t honest about his actions, and it affected the trust between them. It’s been very hard for the kids. No one knows, except them, how bad it has been.”
The dueling narratives resurfaced during Vivienne’s recent court approval. A source close to Pitt said, “This is the latest installment in what complete and total alienation looks like with an extra topping of trying to deflect attention from their ex’s success. Anyone who has actually been a part of this for the last ten years would know that there’s only one side that talks about and has tried to weaponize the kids.”
A second source close to Jolie fired back: “Today’s hearing was required by law and scheduled months ago by the L.A. Court system. It’s a new low to have his camp to spin a conspiracy theory, disavow responsibility for his conduct, and attack his own child. Keep in mind, his daughter has had the grace not to discuss the details of his behavior in public.”
Through it all, Jolie herself has maintained public silence on the specifics. In July, a source close to the “Girl, Interrupted” actress said she was focused on healing rather than conflict. “Angie hasn’t been fighting and isn’t angry. She just wants everyone to heal,” the insider said. “If people knew the whole truth they would have more sympathy for the children and respect them. The fact they aren’t speaking ill or sharing things publicly only shows their decency.”
The Jolie-Pitt marriage collapsed in September 2016 after two years, with Jolie filing for divorce following an incident aboard a private plane. The “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” actress cited concerns about Pitt’s behavior toward Maddox during the flight. The former couple were declared legally single in 2019, but their divorce was not fully settled until December 2024 after eight years of legal combat. They remain locked in a separate dispute over their French winery, Château Miraval.
Reps for Angelina, Brad and Knox did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
The former couple are next due in court over the Château Miraval dispute, though no specific hearing date has been publicly scheduled.